‘Just in time for the clean-up,’ Emily replied lightly. She crossed the room and, standing on her tiptoes, reached up to kiss his cheek. ‘How lovely to see you.’ His skin was warm and she inhaled the citrusy tang of his aftershave; the scent was more pungent than one she would have associated with stoic, straight-as-an-arrow Jason, the boy who had kept her out of trouble, the man who had left Highfield for a high-profile career in civil engineering. He was her boss and oldest family friend, although whether he was her friend was another matter altogether. Looking at his rather cool expression now, Emily remembered how Jason always seemed to disapprove of her just a bit.
She stepped back with a brisk smile. Jason hadn’t moved, but Emily was gratified to see the tiniest quirk of his mouth. Amazing, but it almost looked like a smile. ‘I didn’t know you were due back in London.’ As founder and CEO of Kingsley Engineering, Jason travelled for most of the year. Emily couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen him beyond a flash of sober suit in the hallway, or amidst the chaos of a family gathering back in Surrey. He’d certainly never sought her out like this.
Although, she acknowledged as she began to gather up the icing-smeared plates, he wasn’t really seeking her out. He’d just missed the party.
‘I thought it was about time I came home,’ Jason said. He glanced around at the empty tables. ‘It looks like it was a successful party. But then, of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less.’
Successful, Emily thought, rather than fun. So typical of Jason. She arched her eyebrows. ‘Oh, and why is that?’
‘You’re quite the busy little socialite, Em.’
Emily bristled, because the words did not sound complimentary coming out of Jason’s mouth. Just because she enjoyed a party hardly made her some kind of scatty socialite. And the childhood nickname surprised her, even though it shouldn’t. Jason had been the only one to call her that. Little Em, he’d tease, yanking her plaits and giving her a smile that wasn’t quite condescending. More just … knowing. Yet he could hardly say he knew her now; despite working for his company, with his intense travel schedule she’d barely seen him in the five years she’d been at KE. And she couldn’t remember the last time he’d called her Em.
‘I wasn’t aware you kept tabs on my social activities,’ she said, only half-joking.
‘I’m honour bound to, considering our history. And, in any case, you’ve made the social pages enough it would be hard not to notice.’
Emily gave him a playful smile. ‘And you read the social
pages?’
‘I eagerly await them every morning.’
Emily burst out laughing, for the thought of Jason poring over photos of ageing debutantes and profligate playboys was utterly ludicrous, though she’d hardly expect him to joke about it—or joke about anything, really. More than once she’d wondered if he’d had his sense of humour surgically removed.
‘Actually,’ he continued, his tone serious and even severe once more, ‘my PA scans them for me. I need to know what my employees are up to.’
Ah, there he was. The real Jason, the Jason she knew and remembered, always ready to deliver a scolding or shoot her one of those stern looks. Emily gave him a sunny smile. ‘Well, as you can see, this was quite the wild party. Cake and streamers, and I believe someone might have brought out the karaoke machine. Scandalous.’
‘Don’t forget the champagne.’
Emily reached for several empty plastic flutes. ‘How did you guess?’
‘Actually, I provided it.’
‘You did?’ She couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice, and Jason’s mouth quirked again in a small smile. He propped one shoulder against the doorway.
‘Really, Emily, I’m not quite that stern a taskmaster. And I did actually try to make it to this party. Stephanie has been with the company for over five years.’
‘Ah, so that’s the reason. You probably give out some kind of honorary plaque.’
‘You only get one of those for ten years’ service,’ Jason told her, and Emily’s mouth dropped open. He had to be kidding—then she saw a telltale glint in his eyes and realised he was. Two jokes in one day. What had happened to him in Africa?
Surprised and a little discomfited by their banter, Emily paused in her clearing up to look at him properly; he wore a suit—of course—of expensive grey silk, a muted navy tie knotted at his throat. His hair, chocolate brown, the same colour as his eyes, was cut short. He looked crisp and clean and neat, remote and untouchable with that small, rather superior smile Emily had never completely liked but accepted as part of who Jason was, the exalted older brother-in-law, separated from her by twelve years, distant and just a little disapproving.
He’d never taken part in their silly childhood games. She, her sister Isobel, and Jason’s younger brother Jack had always got into the most amazing scrapes, and Jason had been the one to bail them out and lecture them afterwards. She’d accepted and resented it at turns, yet never questioned his innate authority. It was too much a part of him, and the relationship he’d had with them all. Yet it had been months since she’d seen him, years since they’d really talked.
Five years ago, when she’d arrived in London looking for a job, he’d directed her to Stephanie, then Head of Human Resources, and then barely seen her settle in as a secretary before he’d been off again, directing a building project in Asia. The times he’d seen her since then had been at the office, where he kept a cool, professional distance, or back in Surrey at various family gatherings, where he was no more than what he’d always been—Jason, as good as an older brother, bossy and perhaps a little bit boring but still … Jason. An essential part of the landscape of her life, steady and staid and there.
‘So are you back for long this time?’ she asked, turning back to the table of paper plates.
‘A few months I hope. I have some business locally to take care of.’ He spoke casually enough, yet Emily sensed an undercurrent of intensity that sparked her curiosity, and she glanced back at him. Jason’s impassive face gave nothing away.
‘Local business?’ she repeated as she dumped another load of paper plates into the bin. ‘I didn’t know KE had a local project going on.’ As a civil engineer, Jason’s speciality was water management in Third World countries. It was a rather impressive line Emily trotted out when conducting interviews, although she’d yet to really understand just what it entailed. He’d never done a local project before, as far as she knew.
‘It’s not to do with the company,’ Jason replied, his voice mild.
‘Personal business?’ she asked. ‘You mean family?’ She thought of Jason’s taciturn father, his tearaway brother, now married to her own sister. Was someone in trouble or ill? Her brow furrowed, and Jason’s mouth quirked once more in that knowing little smile as he shook his head.
‘You’re full of questions, aren’t you? No, as a matter of fact, it’s nothing to do with family. But personal.’ He stressed it lightly yet pointedly, making her feel a bit like the bratty little girl she’d undoubtedly been to his very cool teenager. Or twenty-something. He’d always been a little god-like in his maturity and sophistication. When she’d been getting braces, he’d already started his own company and made his first million.
‘Sorry. I’ll stop.’ She smiled just as teasingly back, determined to keep it light and breezy, although now her curiosity was well and truly whetted. What kind of personal business could Jason Kingsley have? There had always been a fair amount of office speculation about the boss’s personal life, for while he was in London he always had a different woman on his arm at various social functions, usually someone glamorous and shallow, and in Emily’s opinion totally unsuitable for Jason. Yet she’d